1. Protect Future Generations
The average child receives 4 times more exposure than an adult to at least 8
widely used cancer-causing pesticides in foods. The food choices you make
now will impact your child's health in the future.
2. Prevent
Soil Erosion
Soil is the foundation of the food chain in organic farming. In conventional
farming the soil is used more as a medium for holding plants in a vertical
position so they can be chemically fertilized. As a result, American farms
are suffering from the worst soil erosion in history.
3. Protect
Water Quality
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates pesticides - some cancer
causing - contaminate the groundwater in 38 states, polluting the primary
source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.
4. Save
Energy
Modern farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry, consuming
12 percent of the country's total energy supply. More energy is now used to
produce synthetic fertilizers than to fill, cultivate and harvest all the
crops in the U.S. Organic farming is mainly based on labor-intensive
practices such as weeding by hand and using green manures and crop covers
rather than synthetic fertilizers to build up soil.
5. Keep
Chemicals Off Your Plate
EPA considers that 60% of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides and 30% of
all insecticides are carcinogenic. Pesticides are poisons designed to kill
living organisms, and can also be harmful to humans. In addition to cancer,
pesticides are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic
mutation.
6. Protect
Farm Worker Health
A National Cancer Institute study found that farmers exposed to herbicides
had a 6 times greater risk than non-farmers of contracting cancer. Field
workers suffer the highest rates of occupational illness in California.
7. Help
Small Farmers
It's estimated that the United States has lost more than 650,000 family
farms in the past decade. And with the USDA predicting that half of this
country's farm production will come from 1% of farms by the year 2000,
organic farming could be one of the few survival tactics left for the family
farms.
8. Support
A True Economy
Although organic foods might seem more expensive than conventional foods,
conventional food prices do not reflect hidden costs borne by the taxpayers
including nearly $74 billion in federal subsidies in 1988. Other hidden
costs include pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and
clean-up, and environmental damage.
9. Promote
Biodiversity
Mono-cropping is the practice of planting large plots of land with the same
crop year after year. The lack of natural planting diversity has left the
soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients. Single crops are much more
susceptible to pests, making farmers more reliant on pesticides while some
insects have become genetically resistant to certain pesticides.
10. Taste: Better Flavor
There is a good reason why many chefs use organic foods in their recipes,
they taste better. Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil
which eventually leads to the nourishment of the plant and ultimately, our
bodies.